Giving your UK tax ID to an American company - An identity fraud risk?

[Angie-And-Bob0]

In the UK the NI (personal tax) number, is one piece of personal data that can easily be used as a weapon for identity fraud (someone takes your private details to impersonate you, creating bank accounts, getting loans/mortgages etc, and YOU pay the bills the fraudster racks up). This happens increasingly often, for example, there are very currently many phishing emails/postal letters/texts/phone calls, in the UK, all pretending to be from HMRC. The advice to consumers is, "If something REALLY is from HMRC, they'll quote your NI number in their communication."

Airbnb have recently asked all UK hosts to supply their NI number to the company. This isn't a safe idea!  No one except the British tax authority (and a select few other British institutions, such as public health services), should have this number, if you want to reduce your risk of ID fraud and keep your personal data safe, don’t give out this number. Alarm bells ring at the thought of giving it to a private American company, who then send it to a tax office in Ireland, after which Ireland transfer it to the UK.  That's 2 transfer opportunities for hackers to steal it as it moves from system to system around the world.  The UK tax authorities can identify Airbnb hosts from the name address and other info Airbnb already hold and already give to HMRC, they can do this without compromising our privacy and security.

Storing and passing round sensitive data outside of the UK tax authorities, I believe to be an infringement of our right to privacy and security.  The irony is, we make a couple of thousand a year after expenses under the rent-a-room scheme, so  wouldn't pay tax anyway.   I'm loath to risk my personal security when no one will raise any tax benefits from it!

I will pay any tax I'm due, but won't compromise my security.  I've delisted and will use the space for my family in future. 

[Angie-And-Bob0]

I don't mind the rooms in our house being described as a 'business'. 🙂  Semantics were not central to the argument in my post.  Theoretically if you earn money you have to pay your tax (business or individual).  And yes, this 'gig' was to make some pin money, so, I agree with you it was effectively an 'enterprise.' 

I was simply (in layman's words), drawing a comparison between my small-scale activity which was instigated by an individual, with the increasing number of people and companies who are running multiple Airbnb's nowadays, as their main business.  Airbnb is no longer the activity it used to be when we started, whereby individuals (not businesses), let out a sofa or a room or two in their own house. Airbnb is increasingly used by companies/businesses, to make large amounts of profit.   It is not the community it once was.  

[Helen427]

@Angie-And-Bob0

Have you provided Fedback on ABB own website and also to HMRC in regards to this matter?

By the way it's always been a legal requirement to Pay Tax and many of us do in day to day ways, we also already pay Tax on expenses we incur on top of suggested by the  Tax Offices so there are many Grey Areas where we will all be applying our own unique situations.

What we find interesting is with 'Rooms' in Private Homes/ Flatmate/ Homeshare situations there always used to be and still is a recommended "Suggested Price Daily Rate'' through ABB'S Systems which we have since found out is the same rate that has been taken as the Average Rate for paying "Full Board and Lodgings" in a private room in a Private home across all of the countryside whereas each Individual situation, geographic etc are all unique with Cost of Living.

Someone somewhere has made a fudge of systems with Median Prices applied in Government Departments/ University Research which comes as absolutely no surprise.

It's a little like saying Kumaras and Apples all grow in the Ocean in Salt Water.

We found this information out through our own personal experience and delving into Taxation Department information under 'Boarders' and Taxes...

So there you have where ABB likely got there Algorithm suggestions from.

@Christy-Schrader 

@Tara-Bunch 

@Quincy @Stephanie @Bhumika @Elisa

@Emilie 

@Pat271 

@Everyonereading this

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Angie-And-Bob0 complain away....but do read your post first.

[Helen427]

@Angie-And-Bob0 @Rebecca  and others

We found this interesting discussion document from Australia in relation to Airbnb and opinions that may be of interest as to how some of us have found ourselves stuck in the unusual discriminatory and bureaucratic messy situations we find ourselves caught in the crossfire of.

Unfortunately this type of analysis below is based on "Data Mining / Web scrapping of Statistical (?) Information which as we know is not necessarily accurate, correct or applicable to our lives and likely to be flawed as it fails to factor into account each individuals personal reasoning for using Airbnb or whatever platform to advertise that way.

One only needs to look through this community forum to see that there is a small number of contributors who write daily the same answers and opinions about matters which is likely to result in a disproportionate and flawed result, as would be the result of any Data Mining without factoring into account each persons unique reasoning for using ABB as a platform to network and contributions to society in general.

One would reasonably expect there to be similar documents as the one in the Legal Institute Database below lurking in various countries.

@Tara-Bunch @Brian perhaps this is an avenue ABB can look into from legal avenues and undertaking your own more accurate research to bring back the balance in the lives of those who joined ABB to help what we personally have referred to as the 'Hidden Homeless' in our communities, that of people between flats, needing a Billet type of accommodation, moving to another country to create a new life, those on Working Holiday visa's and in general trying to assimilate into Living like a Local and who may not fit into the limited Tick the Box Bureaucratic  Stereotyping that has perhaps not kept up with the evolution of society. Thanks in advance

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Select Committee of the Legislative Council on Short Stay Accommodation in Tasmania - Report (T Pp 2019 no 12) [2019] TasLCSelCPubInq 1 (1 January 2019)

http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/other/tas/TasLCSelCPubInq/2019/1.html

According to the LGAT submission, there are three main ways that people
temporarily share (short term) housing in exchange for money. They are:
1. A host rents out a space in their home (primary residence) while they
remain in the property;
2. A host rents out most or all of their home (primary residence) while they
stay elsewhere temporarily; and
3. A dwelling is not occupied by a permanent resident but is rented for
many short term stays all year long. 3
The LGAT submission continued:
Evidence suggests that there has been a shift from letting a private room in a
home where the host resides. In many communities around the world where
1 Local Government Association of Tasmania, 2018, Submission #148, p. 1.
2 Cassandra Pybus, 2018, Submission #1, p. 1.
3 Local Government Association of Tasmania, 2018, Submission #148, p. 3.
11
Airbnb exists, there is little left of the platforms original concept, that is
‘sharing’ unused spaces (usually a private bedroom) with visitors and
possibly establishing a (temporary) personal connection with them, similar
to a bed and breakfast. While private rooms are still offered in residents’
homes, what is also on offer now is a substantial number of entire homes and
apartments. Indeed, it is now common in most places around the world to
have the majority of listings being made up of entire homes/apartments that
are routinely available for over 60 days per year. In Tasmania, for example,
of the 4421 properties listed as being available on Airbnb, 76.3% are entire
homes or apartments and 84.4% of all the listings are available for greater
than 60 days per year.
Entire homes/apartments that are highly available and rented frequently
year-round to temporary residents probably don’t have an owner present.
Where present in high numbers in a particular location, this type of
accommodation is increasingly seen by many as displacing locals and
contributing to a negative change in the amenity and liveability of the local
communities.